Today we looked at one of the many nameless women in the Bible, Lot's wife. All we know is that in Genesis19 she is mentioned as first being called with her husband to leave, and in verse 26 as having turned back and turned into a pillar of salt. There is so much we don't know about this woman - including her name, nationality, or beliefs. All we know is she was married to Lot and had two daughters. So far could be almost anyone.
Commentaries suggest that Mrs. Lot was probably a local - Lot seems to have been quite young when he left Haran with his uncle Abram and so probably didn't have a wife yet. Since they never went back, chances are good that Lot married either an Egyptian during their travels or a local girl once he settled down in Sodom. In the world back then women didn't travel much unless it was with their fathers or husbands, so she probably had lived in Sodom her whole life, or at least long enough for her daughters to grow up and become betrothed. This is all supposition - but could explain why it was so hard for her to leave. If her whole life and family was in Sodom it would be difficult to leave it behind. It seems Lot held a respected position - sitting at the gate of the city - some even suggest he was the mayor. It would imply that he and his family probably had a pretty nice life - in with the IN crowd. We don't know what she believed - had she taken on Lot's faith or had she kept whatever faith, if any, her family held as she grew up? Maybe she didn't believe the warnings of the two men/angels who were staying with them. All in all - even with the little we know - it seems they had a pretty nice life in Sodom. Nice enough even Lot didn't want to leave. The visitors had to physically pull Lot and his wife and daughters out of the city. And when they were almost out of range of the "fire & brimstone" - Lot's wife turns around. Was it to check on her daughters? Was it because she had parents or siblings left behind? Was it because Sodom was the only home she had ever known? Whatever it was, that hesitation, that break in momentum forward, cost her her life.
So what can we learn from this? Luke 17 (verse 32) uses this story to say we must be prepared to leave everything behind. But could we? I guess refugees have done it many times. From different countries in different eras people have been forced to leave behind comfortable lives because a change of government or other dominant circumstance like war, makes it a choice between life with discomfort and possible comfort combined with possible/probable death. People do it. Even people involved in a divorce can be forced to give up their home, thier status and, sometimes, even their support system. The prospect of losing all this has been known to keep unhappy people in marriages on occasion. It is hard to let go of so much. As I look around my house and think of my children growing up here and all the memories that it holds, let alone all the comforts we've accumulated through the years, I realize I would have trouble not looking back. I think I would want one more look at the place that has been central to my life and my children's lives for so long. I wonder if I would have the strength to just leave everything behind.
That's physically. What about emotional or spiritual baggage. Am I able to leave that behind? Do I find comfort in rites and rituals and beliefs that have been a part of my life for as long as I remember? Of course I do. If God tells me I need to look at things differently - will I be able to? Will I believe notice that I am no longer on the right track? Will I be open to God's leading to a new place spiritually? If I have to give up my dreams for my self and/or my children - will I be able to? Or will I have to be dragged to realization that I don't have much of a choice. I don't know - I wonder.
Another interesting thought was raised during our discussion. As the fire and sulphar consumed Lot's wife - turning her into a pillar of salt - so too sometimes we let things - competitiveness, jealousy, addictions - consume our thoughts and our time and our energy. As the salt stopped Lot's wife from running to safety so, too, our obsessions can stop us from reaching our full potential - from the life God has planned for us. So we need to free ourselves from obsessions, from things, from our attachment to home and focus on the future, on God's plan for us. Trust in God can help us let go of our old attachments and face the unknown with confidence. Then maybe we can run to the future without looking back.
In this week's passage I find a woman, not so different from me, who had trouble leaving her past life behind, even if it meant risking what seems to have been a horrible death. Our challenge this week is to be willing to let go of our securities and open up to new possibilities - to be thankful for the graces and gifts we have been given - but also to let go of them so they don't become what keeps us from living a full and faithful life.
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